TODAY’S WEATHER

☀️ Glasgow, you’ve got it good: one of the warmest parts of Britain today, with a high of 21 degrees. Edinburgh and Aberdeen will be markedly cooler, but still enjoying a pleasant, dry day. London is seeing rain this morning, and more over lunchtime into the afternoon - pack a brolly. (Here’s the UK forecast).

THE BIG STORIES
Regan claims MSPs have bought sex | Pressure grows on Israel to stop offensive | North Sea tax plea

📣 A former prostitute claims current MSPs have bought sex from her, with Alba MSP Ash Regan saying those MSPs should declare an interest during debates on prostitution. (The Daily Record has the exclusive).

The revelation came as Regan launched a Bill to criminalise the purchase of sex in Scotland, which would also decriminalise its selling. More details on that, and the debate around Regan’s proposals, is later in today’s newsletter.

• “We were treated like animals” says a former Edinburgh brothel worker (The Scotsman)

• What is the Nordic Model on sex work? (The Herald)

📣 Pressure is growing on Israel to halt its “intolerable” Gaza offensive, with the UK Government halting trade talks and strengthening its rhetoric over the country’s ongoing military action. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, condemned as “monstrous” calls from Israeli politicians to “cleanse” Gaza, and branded the military escalation by Israel as “morally unjustifiable”. He also hit out at Israel’s refusal to allow thousands of aid lorries to enter Gaza. (BBC) (Times £)

• Israeli strikes killed at least 85 in Gaza, as more aid arrives. (AP)

📣 Business leaders and energy workers in the North East of Scotland have called on the Prime Minister to bring an “immediate end” to the North Sea windfall tax. They say the region is at “grave risk” of losing its world-leading skills in the oil and gas sector.

• The tax is “destroying” the North Sea oil industry and undermining energy security and the economy, analysts are warning. (This is Money)

IDEAS
Regan poses more difficult questions for MSPs with her bid to criminalise buying sex

🗣️ A new week, a new difficult question for MSPs: after Liam McArthur’s proposals on assisted dying were passed to a committee stage last week, Alba MSP Ash Regan is determined that at least one other thorny issue will be front and centre in this parliament’s final year.

Her Bill to bring what is called the “Nordic model” of legislation around prostitution is already causing headlines, not because of Regan’s suggestion, backed by a former sex worker’s claims, that some fellow MSPs should be declaring an interest in debates because they are, themselves, buyers of sex.

Regan has long had firm views on the subject. Speaking to The Scotsman’s Rachel Emery last year as she set out to build support for her Bill she said there is “no way to make being raped as a job safe and then put a veneer on it by calling it sex work.

“The Scottish Government is always talking about violence against women, but I don’t know how we can be serious about this unless we criminalise the demand for the purchase of sex,” she said.

Regan points to the hidden scale of prostitution across Scotland - hidden because the internet has helped take the trade off street corners and indoors and move it indoors, hiding the full scale of the problem.

The Nordic model she proposes removes some ambiguity around the legality of prostitution in Scotland by decriminalising the selling of sex, but making its purchase illegal, which it is not today. The model’s central premise is that sex work is a form of violence against women. Regan’s bill would repeal offences that target sellers, quash historic convictions and create a right to support for those in, and wanting to leave, the sex trade.

But her bill is not supported by all groups representing sex workers. The Scotland for Decrim campaign has been set up in response to her proposals, reports the North Edinburgh News, with a spokesperson telling the title the “offensive” bill will “endanger sex workers by exposing us to more violence, poverty, and exploitation.

“This Nordic Model bill would be disastrous for sex workers’ safety, as we have seen in other countries where this model has been implemented and sex workers have experienced more violence from clients and the police. Sex workers don’t want this, the Scottish public doesn’t want this, and politicians from a range of parties oppose this dangerous bill.”

It also appears the Scottish public has its doubts. National Ugly Mugs, an organisation that campaigns for sex workers, commissioned polling last year from YouGov, which shows public opposition to Regan’s proposals. In the poll, 47% said the purchase of sex should be legal (32% were opposed) with 69% wanting a focus on the safety of sex workers, and support for those who want to leave the industry. 62% opposed Regan’s view - also held by the Scottish Government - that sex work equals violence against women. Notably, only 1% thought the matter should be a priority for the Scottish Government.

None of this will deter Regan. At the launch of her Bill yesterday, she described prostitution as “modern slavery”.

“I don’t want to live in a country where you can order women like a pizza, with no consequences for the people that do it.”

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 An investigation into financial irregularities at South Lanarkshire College found undocumented pension payments and “dubious” use of salary advances, among other problems. But the report produced by an external review, initiated in 2023, has yet to be made public. The college has blamed “a regrettable historic operational failure during a previous administration” for the problems. The Herald has the exclusive.

📣 Climate change experts have proposed new targets if Scotland is to meet its net zero goal by 2045. Emissions, claims the Climate Change Committee, will need to fall by an average of 57% over the next five years and by 69% to 2035, compared to 1990 levels. The Scottish Government abandoned its annual targets last year after a series of misses. (BBC)

📣 A £500 million plan to regenerate Glasgow’s East End will be unveiled today, proposing a huge mixed-use development on 100 hectares of land. The Clyde Gateway plan is backed by Glasgow City and South Lanarkshire Councils, Scottish Enterprise and the University of Strathclyde. (Herald)

AROUND THE UK

📣 A “secret memo” from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Raynor to Chancellor Rachel Reeves made the case for sweeping tax rises on savers before the Spring Statement, offering evidence of a split at the top of government over its economic policy. The measures would have raised £3-4 billion by reinstating the pensions lifetime allowance and changing taxes on dividends. (🎁Telegraph - free to read)

• Our disability benefits cut will stop the welfare state collapsing, says minister (Guardian)

📣 The Conservatives have fallen to fourth place behind Labour, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats in the latest UK-wide opinion poll. Reform UK has extended its lead over Labour - 29% to 22% - but it is the collapse of Tory support under leader Kemi Badenoch that catches the eye. Lord Hayward, a Tory peer, also says the results highlight “the task the party faces when confronted by a populist with no record of government”. (Independent)

📣 Oasis fans will spend £1 billion this summer attending the band’s reunion tour, buying tickets, accommodation, food and drink, merchandise and - of course - new outfits. Some say they would gladly spend even more. (Guardian)

SPORT

⚽️ Could Steven Gerrard make a Rangers return? The former Liverpool player, who won a title with the Ibrox side, is due for talks in the next 48 hours according to the Daily Record. - but his wife could hold the key to the whole thing. She is said to be well settled in the £10,000-a-month mansion the family is renting in Bahrain. (Daily Record)

• Has Gerrard’s barber given the game away (yes, really) by posting footage of him pulling up at the gates of the Rangers training centre? The Sun asks the question.

⚽️ Hearts’ sporting director Graeme Jones thinks Tony Bloom is a “quite a serious guy” whose involvement - and £10 million investment - in the Jambos, if it’s approved by the Foundation of Hearts, will be “a really exciting moment for the club”. (The Scotsman)

⚽️ It’s an all-English Europa League cup final tonight which, in itself, is not unusual. But both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have done so badly this season only a victory would do anything to offer a silver lining - and the two managers need not be entirely sure they’ll keep their jobs, either way. As Jonathan Wilson suggests in the Guardian, their struggles leave the game “meaning nothing and everything”. (The Guardian)

• Tonight’s game is on TNT Sports 1, kick-off at 8pm.